So spur of the moment, I decided to go ahead and run the 5K on Monday. I wussed out of it last year, and I didn't want to have to live that down again.
Annie and Jeff were nice enough to pick me up, and then Annie was nice enough to make fun of me for wearing a fleece in May in Texas...I'm cold-natured (cold-natured I said NOT cold-hearted...most of the time). We had plenty of time once we got down there and met up with fellow runners. We did a warm-up lap, and I definitely felt like I'd rather still be in bed. My right Achilles was a little sore in the days prior, but more problematic was that I still felt sleepy...oh well!
Anyway, the start was anticlimactic, and I can't say that I was really all that excited to take off. It was at this moment that I realized these were the first few miles of the marathon course...thankfully I appear to have mostly blocked out that experience, so it didn't really cause any ill effects.
I took off at a nice pace weaving around families of people choosing to walk the course...which don't get me wrong, I fully support, but line up in the BACK people! Then came a HILL, which is actually an overpass, but still, how rude to put that in a 5K, then came more hills, and then any time goal I had went out the window. I still pushed it at a reasonable level, but I knew I had to hit those "hills" again in a minute because it's a stupid out and back course!
Anyway, so I kept Annie in sight most of the race. I joked with her before that I wanted to run a 5K with her and let her be my "bunny". It seems the word I was actually looking for was "rabbit", but being me, I've taken to using the word "bunny" instead. For my non-running friends, a bunny (well actually a rabbit) is someone that paces elite athletes to make sure they stay close to their goal finishing time. Annie is faster than me, so I've been wanting her to pace me on a 5K to see how hard I could really push myself. But when the hills hit and the heat was brutal, I said forget it.
So I'm past mile 2 and there's my bunny Annie within sight! I pick up the pace and catch her in the last half mile. I pull up along side and say "Come on bunny!" which she hears as "Come on money!" I find this absolutely hilarious. This exhange was further compounded by her replying "I threw up" which I heard as "I blew up". I'm giggling again just thinking about it. Anyway, dumb and dumber here finished out the race the best we could. Once again, I finished knowing that I could have run harder, but oh well, stupid hills messed with my confidence. Someday we'll run a 5K on a cooler, flatter course and we'll really see what we can do.
But in the end, I finished at 27:13 with Annie a few seconds behind me (even with the puking). This is just 6 seconds slower than my recent 5K time, so at least I know the other one wasn't a fluke ; ) No races on the schedule anytime soon, so back to base-building and speedwork I think...
Mother, wife, PhD scientist, runner, autism advocate...just trying to balance it all one day at a time.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Notes on a Funeral
So I had to go to a funeral recently, and it had me pondering many aspects of life and death.
You can’t help but sit there and reflect on every other funeral you’ve ever attended in your life (which makes you even sadder as you sit there).
But worse, you can’t help but let your mind wander to consider all of the funerals you have YET to attend in your life. Now that thought is truly terrifying and heartbreaking.
So when those thoughts hit me, I quickly shifted gears into something more constructive…planning my own funeral. Hell, I’ll be dead, so no sense in being sad about that myself. Unless all my science training has failed me, I’m pretty sure death is inevitable, so I figure it’s just good planning…very Stephen Covey Quadrant 2 of me to think about this now.
Anyway, so let’s face it, we all have thoughts, preferences, etc. about what we want for our funeral, so here I shall record my requirements so that it can be said that “Even in death, she was bossy!”
The Crying…Some people will say that they want people to be happy and remember the good times and make it a happy celebration of life. Well what the heck! I want people to be SAD! I want to have lived the kind of life and be the kind of person that people are PISSED about not being around anymore. I mean I want people doing the ugly cry, throwing themselves at the coffin, screaming “Why?” ala Nancy Kerrigan and the clubbing incident, etc. I want to have made that kind of impression on the world that people are devastated that I’m not in it anymore! Just give me 2 hours of drama devoted to me…then after the funeral you’re welcome to get drunk and “celebrate” my life and all that ; )
The Singing…good LORD if you have someone in there in a girdle and blue hair singing off key with too much vibrato I may in fact come back to haunt the person responsible.
The Program…If there is a spelling mistake, again, please expect to be haunted if you are responsible! Check your refrigerator magnets for evil messages.
The Flowers…If you know me at all, you know that I think that carnations are the cockroach of the flower world. If I see a carnation in my arrangements, I will most likely jump out of that coffin and pluck them out one by one myself!
The Pictures…Good funerals usually have nice photo slideshows of the deceased. Should I live to be old, please make sure to have plenty of pictures of me in my younger days. I don’t workout this hard now to not get credit for it later ; )
The Eulogy…While I’m being very tongue-in-cheek about the above statements (except for the carnations…seriously), my only true wish for my funeral is that my kids have something nice to say about me. I hope that they have so many stories of “Remember that time Mom…” that they can’t even choose. There will inevitably be stories that start with “Remember that time Mom fell…” and “Remember that time Mom got mad about…” I do hope that I’ve lived the kind of life and done enough for them that they miss me, but more than that, I hope I’ve done enough for them that they’ll be just fine without me.
And I need to go before Patrick because I’ll never survive without him…
You can’t help but sit there and reflect on every other funeral you’ve ever attended in your life (which makes you even sadder as you sit there).
But worse, you can’t help but let your mind wander to consider all of the funerals you have YET to attend in your life. Now that thought is truly terrifying and heartbreaking.
So when those thoughts hit me, I quickly shifted gears into something more constructive…planning my own funeral. Hell, I’ll be dead, so no sense in being sad about that myself. Unless all my science training has failed me, I’m pretty sure death is inevitable, so I figure it’s just good planning…very Stephen Covey Quadrant 2 of me to think about this now.
Anyway, so let’s face it, we all have thoughts, preferences, etc. about what we want for our funeral, so here I shall record my requirements so that it can be said that “Even in death, she was bossy!”
The Crying…Some people will say that they want people to be happy and remember the good times and make it a happy celebration of life. Well what the heck! I want people to be SAD! I want to have lived the kind of life and be the kind of person that people are PISSED about not being around anymore. I mean I want people doing the ugly cry, throwing themselves at the coffin, screaming “Why?” ala Nancy Kerrigan and the clubbing incident, etc. I want to have made that kind of impression on the world that people are devastated that I’m not in it anymore! Just give me 2 hours of drama devoted to me…then after the funeral you’re welcome to get drunk and “celebrate” my life and all that ; )
The Singing…good LORD if you have someone in there in a girdle and blue hair singing off key with too much vibrato I may in fact come back to haunt the person responsible.
The Program…If there is a spelling mistake, again, please expect to be haunted if you are responsible! Check your refrigerator magnets for evil messages.
The Flowers…If you know me at all, you know that I think that carnations are the cockroach of the flower world. If I see a carnation in my arrangements, I will most likely jump out of that coffin and pluck them out one by one myself!
The Pictures…Good funerals usually have nice photo slideshows of the deceased. Should I live to be old, please make sure to have plenty of pictures of me in my younger days. I don’t workout this hard now to not get credit for it later ; )
The Eulogy…While I’m being very tongue-in-cheek about the above statements (except for the carnations…seriously), my only true wish for my funeral is that my kids have something nice to say about me. I hope that they have so many stories of “Remember that time Mom…” that they can’t even choose. There will inevitably be stories that start with “Remember that time Mom fell…” and “Remember that time Mom got mad about…” I do hope that I’ve lived the kind of life and done enough for them that they miss me, but more than that, I hope I’ve done enough for them that they’ll be just fine without me.
And I need to go before Patrick because I’ll never survive without him…
Friday, May 13, 2011
Larkin's First Race Report
So when I realized that I was ready to start running again, I tried to find a 5K. When I looked into the Sprint for Life 5K, I was immediately intrigued by their Tot Trot for kids 3 years and younger. It was Mother's Day weekend, Larkin is always fascinated when I run, and I thought it would be worth trying to run our first race together. My fear was that she was going to be completely annoyed and uninterested...but the outcome was the exact opposite!
She was talking about it for weeks before the race. I managed to find her a super cute (but athletic!) running outfit...and just maybe I managed to match it to one of my outfits ; ) I also made a huge frilly bow. We Luna girls may run, but we run with style!
The night before the race I told Larkin to remind her Daddy about her race number in the morning. Apparently, she woke up talking about her race number (and her racing shirt...and her racing shorts)...so she was ready to pin it on as soon as she got there.
We managed to get some cute mother daughter pics as well. It might be early and I have no make-up on, but what an awesome way to kick-off Mother's Day weekend.
Once we were over by the start line, Larkin was really ready to get going...but we still had like 20 minutes to wait. So we talked serious race strategy.
We don't look alike at all you know...
Once we lined up, she was all business.
Now let me say that we know very well that Larkin is "all girl". I fully expected her to run like Phoebe on Friends and inevitably to fall at least once...but it didn't happen.
That little chicken took off with better form that I run with and she was FAST!
She totally would have won the race...except Nina forgot to double knot her laces!!
She did get a little tired on the way back (so did I...no way that was just 150 feet!), but she toughed it out and never walked.
If you look closely, you can see Nina snapping a picture with her phone on the left : )
Everywhere we went that morning we heard lots of "Awwwww", "How cute", and "Look at them"...it was one of those events that you know you'll never forget. Here was my mini-me. She was so excited to run...to run like Mama...to run with Mama. Everyone was watching this cute mother-daughter pair in matching outfits, and I couldn't have been more proud. Thoughts of sad Mother's Days past danced on the edge of my mind, and it all felt like a dream. Kellen was even extremely well-behaved and let us have our mother-daughter time. I was so grateful for that entire morning, and I knew it would be a mother's day I would never forget.
To celebrate, everyone got a popsicle...and then we took an impromptu trip to the zoo.
Best Mother's Day Ever...
Only problem is that Larkin can't stop talking about her race...I can't put on my running shoes without her asking to go with me! We're already looking for her next race : )
She was talking about it for weeks before the race. I managed to find her a super cute (but athletic!) running outfit...and just maybe I managed to match it to one of my outfits ; ) I also made a huge frilly bow. We Luna girls may run, but we run with style!
The night before the race I told Larkin to remind her Daddy about her race number in the morning. Apparently, she woke up talking about her race number (and her racing shirt...and her racing shorts)...so she was ready to pin it on as soon as she got there.
We managed to get some cute mother daughter pics as well. It might be early and I have no make-up on, but what an awesome way to kick-off Mother's Day weekend.
Once we were over by the start line, Larkin was really ready to get going...but we still had like 20 minutes to wait. So we talked serious race strategy.
We don't look alike at all you know...
Once we lined up, she was all business.
Now let me say that we know very well that Larkin is "all girl". I fully expected her to run like Phoebe on Friends and inevitably to fall at least once...but it didn't happen.
That little chicken took off with better form that I run with and she was FAST!
She totally would have won the race...except Nina forgot to double knot her laces!!
She did get a little tired on the way back (so did I...no way that was just 150 feet!), but she toughed it out and never walked.
If you look closely, you can see Nina snapping a picture with her phone on the left : )
Everywhere we went that morning we heard lots of "Awwwww", "How cute", and "Look at them"...it was one of those events that you know you'll never forget. Here was my mini-me. She was so excited to run...to run like Mama...to run with Mama. Everyone was watching this cute mother-daughter pair in matching outfits, and I couldn't have been more proud. Thoughts of sad Mother's Days past danced on the edge of my mind, and it all felt like a dream. Kellen was even extremely well-behaved and let us have our mother-daughter time. I was so grateful for that entire morning, and I knew it would be a mother's day I would never forget.
To celebrate, everyone got a popsicle...and then we took an impromptu trip to the zoo.
Best Mother's Day Ever...
Only problem is that Larkin can't stop talking about her race...I can't put on my running shoes without her asking to go with me! We're already looking for her next race : )
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
First 5K of the Season Race Report
So Annie and I planned to do this 5K in the Med Center this weekend because I saw that they also had a Tot Trot for kids 3 years and younger. Once we download the pictures this week, I plan to post a very lengthy "Larkin's First Race Report" complete with lots of pictures. She did AWESOME!!!
So for my race report...it went much better than expected. Weather was great, saw lots of people I knew unexpectedly (including my boss and my ob/gyn!), and I think the idea of staying ahead of my boss may have served as great motivation (I beat him ; ) ).
I started conservatively and let Annie and her friend Jenn get ahead of me once we got through the starting back-up. I kept the first mile about a 9 min pace, then started to loosen up a little the second mile. Before I knew it, mile 3 showed up and as usual, I had a lot left and realized "Oops, I didn't run nearly as hard as I could have!" I kicked it in the last half mile, and finished with a time of 27:07. By far a PR for me, but it was an interesting feeling knowing that I had so much more to give. Knees felt great, no fitness issues, I realized that I have no idea how to race a 5K distance! LOL!
So we're going to sign up for another one on May 30...and this time I told Annie that she could be my "bunny"... ; )
Oh and one more related note....remember those 10 lbs I wanted gone...well 6 are already bye-bye...maybe that's why I'm faster all of sudden ; )
So for my race report...it went much better than expected. Weather was great, saw lots of people I knew unexpectedly (including my boss and my ob/gyn!), and I think the idea of staying ahead of my boss may have served as great motivation (I beat him ; ) ).
I started conservatively and let Annie and her friend Jenn get ahead of me once we got through the starting back-up. I kept the first mile about a 9 min pace, then started to loosen up a little the second mile. Before I knew it, mile 3 showed up and as usual, I had a lot left and realized "Oops, I didn't run nearly as hard as I could have!" I kicked it in the last half mile, and finished with a time of 27:07. By far a PR for me, but it was an interesting feeling knowing that I had so much more to give. Knees felt great, no fitness issues, I realized that I have no idea how to race a 5K distance! LOL!
So we're going to sign up for another one on May 30...and this time I told Annie that she could be my "bunny"... ; )
Oh and one more related note....remember those 10 lbs I wanted gone...well 6 are already bye-bye...maybe that's why I'm faster all of sudden ; )
Friday, April 8, 2011
Oh, The Places I've Run
Annie is always talking about coming over to my house to run because she's tired of the route by her house (but I'm equally tired of the route by my house...LOL!), and it got me thinking about where I've been. I've run off and on since college (you know...when I thought jogging around the park in a sports bra and barely there shorts constituted exercising), but I've only been what I consider a "serious runner" since about January 2010 when I started training for my first 5K. But in that short time, I've gotten to run some pretty cool places, so I thought I'd look back on that for fun...
* The bridge by my house...This may not seem like a "cool place" to run, but when I was fighting through my issues and couldn't exercise, I'd always see people running across the bridge and wish I could be them at that moment. Plus the bridge is about 2 miles from my house (3 if you get all the way over it), so that was "a long way to run" to me back then...LOL! I've now been over it more times than I can count.
* My hometown...I pretty much ran the length of my hometown, got chased by a dog, ran into a family friend, and had to take a few laps around the high school track to get to the distance I needed...LOL! I'm pretty sure most of the people who actually ran track in high school there probably couldn't keep up with me now...score one for the NERDS!
Those were more sentimental places, but I actually got to GO some awesome places, too.
I RAN...
* Around the CDC in Atlanta (I didn't see Dustin Hoffman or Rene Russo or any monkeys).
* Inner Harbor in Baltimore
* Along the James River in Richmond
* Along the Galveston Seawall
* On a gorgeous trail in Seattle (and it was raining so I really got the full Seattle treatment)
* Along Lake Michigan in Chicago
* Along Lake Ontario in Toronto
* Through Silicon Valley in San Jose
* All over San Antonio during my half
* Over the Harbor Bridge in Corpus (a bridge we drove over hundreds maybe thousands of times growing up)
Dear friends who live in cool places...find me a race near you and maybe we'll have an extra excuse to come visit ; )
* The bridge by my house...This may not seem like a "cool place" to run, but when I was fighting through my issues and couldn't exercise, I'd always see people running across the bridge and wish I could be them at that moment. Plus the bridge is about 2 miles from my house (3 if you get all the way over it), so that was "a long way to run" to me back then...LOL! I've now been over it more times than I can count.
* My hometown...I pretty much ran the length of my hometown, got chased by a dog, ran into a family friend, and had to take a few laps around the high school track to get to the distance I needed...LOL! I'm pretty sure most of the people who actually ran track in high school there probably couldn't keep up with me now...score one for the NERDS!
Those were more sentimental places, but I actually got to GO some awesome places, too.
I RAN...
* Around the CDC in Atlanta (I didn't see Dustin Hoffman or Rene Russo or any monkeys).
* Inner Harbor in Baltimore
* Along the James River in Richmond
* Along the Galveston Seawall
* On a gorgeous trail in Seattle (and it was raining so I really got the full Seattle treatment)
* Along Lake Michigan in Chicago
* Along Lake Ontario in Toronto
* Through Silicon Valley in San Jose
* All over San Antonio during my half
* Over the Harbor Bridge in Corpus (a bridge we drove over hundreds maybe thousands of times growing up)
Dear friends who live in cool places...find me a race near you and maybe we'll have an extra excuse to come visit ; )
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Weight a Minute...
A little history...
I totally realize that there are people with WAY more serious weight issues than I have ever had. I've been pretty lucky. I was a little chubby as a pre-teen, but luckily (and partly stupidly...why did pickles sound like an acceptable lunch idea?) I slimmed down and spent the majority of my high school and college years as one of the "skinny ones" (although no matter how skinny I get, my butt never totally disappears...LOL!).
But like everyone else, my weight fluctuates...
* I was in pretty good shape prior to trying to have kids, but the fertility drugs (and the consolation wine when things failed) left me with about 5-10 extra pounds depending on the stage we were at.
* I gained 33 pounds with Larkin, and I was very lucky to have it all off by the time I realized I was pregnant with Kellen!
* I gained 35 pounds with Kk, and again, I found myself very lucky to take it all off plus another 5-7lbs! I was close to what I consider my ideal goal weight at that point, so I focused on training and not dieting.
When I started training for the marathon last summer, I was probably in the best shape of my life. I had been skinnier in my life, but never as strong and fit, but I knew I could work harder. So I did work harder and train harder...but that extra work made me hungry...really, really hungry. This led to me GAINING about 5-7 lbs by the time I got done with the marathon...what a dummy!
So at the beginning of this week I find myself RIGHT at my pre-kids weight, which mind you is still a good thing, but sort of my "upper limit" of comfort. Needless to say, I have not actually tried to get rid of these extra pounds yet, but this week I decided it was time. I'm actually shooting for 10 lbs total, and I actually feel like that would do wonders for my knees when I start training again in the summer! I'm still feeling really fit right now, but I'm having to take the running slow since I've gotten rid of my knee braces.
It also helps that Patrick is very serious about getting in shape right now (he's just started P90X), so both of us working out and watching our food choices makes it much easier. Realistically, he and I are both about 3 months away from our goals...it will be exciting to see how it all turns out!
I totally realize that there are people with WAY more serious weight issues than I have ever had. I've been pretty lucky. I was a little chubby as a pre-teen, but luckily (and partly stupidly...why did pickles sound like an acceptable lunch idea?) I slimmed down and spent the majority of my high school and college years as one of the "skinny ones" (although no matter how skinny I get, my butt never totally disappears...LOL!).
But like everyone else, my weight fluctuates...
* I was in pretty good shape prior to trying to have kids, but the fertility drugs (and the consolation wine when things failed) left me with about 5-10 extra pounds depending on the stage we were at.
* I gained 33 pounds with Larkin, and I was very lucky to have it all off by the time I realized I was pregnant with Kellen!
* I gained 35 pounds with Kk, and again, I found myself very lucky to take it all off plus another 5-7lbs! I was close to what I consider my ideal goal weight at that point, so I focused on training and not dieting.
When I started training for the marathon last summer, I was probably in the best shape of my life. I had been skinnier in my life, but never as strong and fit, but I knew I could work harder. So I did work harder and train harder...but that extra work made me hungry...really, really hungry. This led to me GAINING about 5-7 lbs by the time I got done with the marathon...what a dummy!
So at the beginning of this week I find myself RIGHT at my pre-kids weight, which mind you is still a good thing, but sort of my "upper limit" of comfort. Needless to say, I have not actually tried to get rid of these extra pounds yet, but this week I decided it was time. I'm actually shooting for 10 lbs total, and I actually feel like that would do wonders for my knees when I start training again in the summer! I'm still feeling really fit right now, but I'm having to take the running slow since I've gotten rid of my knee braces.
It also helps that Patrick is very serious about getting in shape right now (he's just started P90X), so both of us working out and watching our food choices makes it much easier. Realistically, he and I are both about 3 months away from our goals...it will be exciting to see how it all turns out!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
"3"
Disclaimer: Birthday + New Camera + 2 People Taking Pictures + Camera-happy Preschooler = no way to choose which pics to post!
She's three. How did that happen? It feels like yesterday that I was sitting in the NICU beside her isolette just longing to hold her. I had waited so long to hold my own child, and it was such a cruel joke that I got to take her home only to have her back in the NICU the next morning.
Three years ago today, I was sitting there diligently watching this...
And that miracle has now grown into this...
She really had an amazing birthday. She went to school and celebrated with her friends. The next morning she opened more presents and then we went to our first kids' birthday party we've ever thrown. She totally owned that place. We quickly learned that our daughter is a ringleader (and that Kellen is a rebel, but really that's not much of a surprise). To hear and see her interact with the girls in her preschool class was so unbelievably cute.
Presents...a new aquarium (which ended up being two aquariums and a rotating crew of fish...don't ask!)
A Mercedes...hmmm, Papa and Nina don't forget my b-day is in June...
A new bike...hopefully she'll have better skills than me and not run into any parked cars...
Party...I highly recommend a place like this. Kids run wild, parents watch, the mess stays there!
Most of the kids lined up...guess who's running around like crazy in front of them...LOL!
Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles...
We may be cute, but we're still tough.
Papa this doesn't look very safe!
Could this cake be more Larkin?
I may have been up past midnight making all those hairbows...
But all the work we put into this first party was completely worth it to see my chicken having the time of her life!
She's three. How did that happen? It feels like yesterday that I was sitting in the NICU beside her isolette just longing to hold her. I had waited so long to hold my own child, and it was such a cruel joke that I got to take her home only to have her back in the NICU the next morning.
Three years ago today, I was sitting there diligently watching this...
And that miracle has now grown into this...
She really had an amazing birthday. She went to school and celebrated with her friends. The next morning she opened more presents and then we went to our first kids' birthday party we've ever thrown. She totally owned that place. We quickly learned that our daughter is a ringleader (and that Kellen is a rebel, but really that's not much of a surprise). To hear and see her interact with the girls in her preschool class was so unbelievably cute.
Presents...a new aquarium (which ended up being two aquariums and a rotating crew of fish...don't ask!)
A Mercedes...hmmm, Papa and Nina don't forget my b-day is in June...
A new bike...hopefully she'll have better skills than me and not run into any parked cars...
Party...I highly recommend a place like this. Kids run wild, parents watch, the mess stays there!
Most of the kids lined up...guess who's running around like crazy in front of them...LOL!
Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles...
We may be cute, but we're still tough.
Papa this doesn't look very safe!
Could this cake be more Larkin?
I may have been up past midnight making all those hairbows...
But all the work we put into this first party was completely worth it to see my chicken having the time of her life!
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